Gender roles in society: A look at masculinity and femininity

"The Dangers of Femininity" by Lucy Gilbert and Paula Webster discusses gender roles in society, and Messages Men Hear: Constructing Masculinities by Ian Harris discusses specifically the gender roles of men. According to Gilbert and Webster, "the two-gender system mandates masculine and feminine beings who are unequal, giving one set social power and the other none." (41) These masculine and feminine qualities are not just determined by sex. They are defined by the certain characteristics that a person exhibits. These characteristics are shaped by the culture of a society. Males and females are encouraged to behave by these codes. Harris has a similar argument. Harris proposes, "gender role messages set standards for appropriate male behavior."( 12) These messages are a set of codes that are given by family members at a young age. These messages possesses, " ways of thinking, feeling, and reacting that form the basis for his world view" (Harris, 17).Gilbert and Webster argue that society pressures both genders to behave a certain way and that this established system is in favor of males, but Harris argues that this system can also have a negative impact on males.

Although both "The Dangers of Femininity" and Messages Men Hear: Constructing Masculinities discuss the cultural influence of gender roles, they have some conflicting arguments on how society specifically forms male behaviors. Gilbert and Webster generalize male gender role as "The Real Man". The real man "exhibits all the traits of a strong and self assured person by being rational, competitive, proud, self-protecting, physically powerful, and sexually attractive" (42). Harris, however, is more specific about male gender role. He classifies gender role in 24 messages and mentions that there are many other messages men receive as well. Some of these messages are considered classic because they have been established by society for many generations, but there are emerging messages that have appeared in...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...In a society where gender norms have been set for many years, there are still an increasing number of people that go against it. Although it is more accepted than what it once was, there are still many criticisms of those that oppose gender norms. It is prevalent in sports today, as society stereotypes genders on what sport they can or cannot play. Sports such as football, wrestling, and other rough, physical games are viewed as manly sports, while hobbies such as shopping, cheerleading, or gardening are seen as feminine. There has been a time where I have witnessed an individual cross the boundary of gender norms, with negative consequences. In our society, there are certain characteristics and qualities that define masculinity and femininity, but there are occasionally those who display traits of the other gender.
A guy in my grade tried out for the cheerleading squad in our sophomore year of high school. This was the first time a male has tried out for the squad, and he was bashed for it. The guys called him gay while the girls were surprised that a boy would ever attempt to join the cheerleading squad. Why was a thing like this such a new-worthy and shocking event? It is because it goes against gender norms, and is different from what people are used to seeing. We have been raised and conditioned to believe what...

...Genderroles have a very dominant place in our society. Different families and cultures emphasize different roles for men and women. However, masculinity seems to dominate throughout the world. Women’s role in society is always changing but femininity never seems to rise above its masculine counterpart. Gender asymmetry has been a struggle for a long time because of the uncertainty of how we learn such roles. How to act like a boy or a girl is not something biological we are just born with. These roles are learned through our interactions with family and peers, starting as early as birth.
The first and one of the strongest influences on a person's genderrole is their parents. Parents are our first teachers and role models . They don’t just teach us such basic skills like talking and walking, but also of attitudes and behavior. Most parents still hold traditional definitions of masculine and feminine and what kind of activities are appropriate for each. Parents tend to be more concerned with the safety of little girls. Where as, boys are expected to be rough and tough at an early age. Most of the time parents are not even aware that they are teaching their kids some of these roles. As discussed in the beginning of the text book, we are taught that our...

...Each society has binary oppositions as in masculine and feminine roles and the established values have little to do with nature and everything to do with culture. Moreover, the ideals and distinctions of masculine and feminine activities and behaviors are reinforced and redefined through powerful social norms of any particular period. In Medieval and early Modern Europe societies, genderroles were clearly defined by the strong prevailing social structure of the period and were constantly changing because of historical circumstances. For example, in the Greek ancient city of Sparta, masculinity as an ideal was strictly associated with the characteristics of being physically powerful, loyal warriors while femininity was related to marriage and procreation. In the High Middle Ages, France’s social structure deemed that a noble masculine role could include becoming either a member of the church or a knight whereas a noble female’s role primarily focused on learning a different set of domestic skills. By the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, social norms began to associate masculinity with professional skills and education while women were limited in these domains based upon their gender. With this framework in mind, this essay will examine and analyze genderroles beginning with Medieval...

...Throughout history stereotypes have imposed a major role in society’s views of people. Today, gender remains one of the most common causes of stereotypical prejudice. Presenting an unfair standard for all to follow, genderroles taint people’s ideas of how someone should act and what someone should do. Believing these roles to be accurate, society casts negative opinions toward those who strive to do what others view as anomalous. Since the time that humans developed the ability to reason and communicate, genderroles have affected both men and women’s place in society. Genderroles influence the actions of parents and, consequently, their children, strengthening the roots of stereotypes in the world. The effect of genderroles in society is most evident in the workplace, where women have never been equal to men in salary or status. While the trends of the last century lean toward an equal future, genderroles continue to affect the lives of men and women around the world.
Genderroles create a significant disparity in the nature of the positions held by men and women. In 1880, for example, “Only ten percent of women [in New York City ] held paying jobs,” and, “two-thirds [of those women] worked in the clothing trade” (#3)”....

...culture, definitions of masculinity and femininity have varied dramatically, leading researchers to argue that gender, and specifically genderroles, are socially constructed (see Cheng, 1999). Cheng (1999:296) further states that “one should not assume that ‘masculine’ behaviour is performed only by men, and by all men, while ‘feminine’ behaviour is performed by women and by all women”. Such historical and cultural variations oppose the essentialist view that masculinity, femininity and genderroles are biologically ingrained in males and females prior to birth (Cheng, 1999). These socially constructed stereotypes surrounding masculinity and femininity coupled with their cultural and historical variations are the focus of this essay, leading into the sociological implications of the findings.
Whilst practices of genderroles have varied dramatically across history and culture, the stereotypes surrounding masculinity and femininity have remained fairly stoic (Cheng,1999). Masculinity has been continually characterised by traits such as “independence, confidence and assertiveness”, with these traits relating directly to aspects of dominance, authority, power and success (Leaper, 1995:1). Cheng (1999:298) links these traits of...

...English 162
Essay 2
A prominent and permeating theme in Macbeth is the roles and characteristics of masculinity and femininity. Throughout the play Shakespeare presents the audience with strong and sometimes conflicting views of these genderroles. What exactly defines being a man or a woman? How does an individual’s grasp of these roles effect their actions? Shakespeare shows that a clear and accurate understanding of the concept of masculinity is of critical importance in the success of a ruler. In particular, he illustrates how Macbeth’s acceptance of a perverted, violent view of masculinity leads his kingdom into chaos and turmoil, and leads Macbeth to his inevitable demise. Moral order can only be restored when the kingdom is lead by a wiser king with a better understanding of what it is to be a man.
As the most prominent female character in the play Lady Macbeth might be expected to be representative of the ideal 11th century woman, but this is not the case. At times she seems even more “masculine” than her husband. Indeed, it is Lady Macbeth who most directly introduces and inspires the cruel and violent view of masculinity later adopted by Macbeth. She says, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (1.5.38-41). She quite literally asks...

... Gomez"
English 3"
May 12, 2014"
GenderRoles Portrayed in Society!
What inﬂuences how people view genderroles in society? Researchers have
shown social media, parental inﬂuences and society have all impacted how genderroles are portrayed in today’s modern society"
These “roles” have dated back as far as mankind can remember. If you look back
to the 1950’s you will see these “roles” shown very often through many television shows
and how it affected society. In the 1950’s, the popular shows at the time were “Father
Knows Best,” “Dennis the Menace” and “Leave it to the Beaver.” All of these shows implying that women were to be at home and men were to work, bringing home the “bacon.” This ideaology affected society, men began to feel as though that they must solely
make all the money and took the burden upon themselves. If you could not provide for
your family then you didn’t do your job. As for women, they had to do all the domestic
chores and had to depend solely on their husbands. For women, this was very unfair.
They felt as though they were left at a disadvantage. "
In the 50s and the years to come, they would be discriminated against and only
be allowed to work jobs that ﬁt their capabilities. For example, they could do secretarial
work and...

...Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards equality in recent decades however; we still live in a society in which the worth of women is measured in their physical appearance and not their intellectual contribution or talents. It is not an unknown secret that many women are paid considerably less than men for doing the same type of work. What effect does this obvious gap between men and women have on our nation’s female population? The effect of this is the unconscious perpetuation of the understanding that women are inferior to men in our society. This also stands in direct contradiction to the claim that we are all created equal. This gap between men and women can be seen in countless social arenas, such as, the workplace, the average...